Toddler With Down Syndrome Learns His First Words From Singing With His Sister

The sweet video has been liked by more than 1 million people and shared more than 800,000 times.

Music can be a powerful thing. The Gray family recently learned this firsthand when their two children bonded over singing. Bo Gray, 2, has Down syndrome. He was also born with several heart and lung conditions, and has already been through numerous treatments throughout his young life. His parents say that music therapy has been the key to improving his vocabulary.

On January 15, Bo’s mom, Amanda Bowman Gray, posted a video to Facebook of Bo singing “You Are My Sunshine” along with his 11-year-old sister, Lydia, who is also playing the guitar. The sweet video has since gone viral and has been liked by more than 1 million people and shared more than 800,000 times. Check it out:

“My daughter Lydia was watching Bo while I was in the shower. Came out to this. If she didn’t have a guitar I don’t know if she would know how to babysit him. This is her go to. It’s proof that music therapy works. Bo is 25 months old and has a 12 word vocabulary. Every word he has learned has been through music and singing,” Bowman Gray wrote.

“You Are My Sunshine” has been a special song for Bo ever since he underwent heart surgery in April 2016. “After weeks and weeks (which ended up in months) of being in the hospital in a silent room of the CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit) we got special permission to bring a guitar in and sing to him in hopes that it would comfort him,” Bowman Gray explained on Facebook.

Doctors told Bo’s family that he probably wouldn’t speak until he was 3 years old, but he proved everyone wrong when he said “happy,” his first word after his sister sang it in “You Are My Sunshine.”

“We feel like he’s defying the odds,” Bowman Gray told ABC News. “Thanks to Lydia and her determination, she pushed forward with music therapy. … We’re so proud of our kids.”